“She lives right by the house. The family all know my nan very well and all of a sudden they just started shouting out my nan’s name.

“Then we saw the house was alight – I rang the fire brigade straight away.

“We don’t know how it started. It didn’t look too bad at first and then it just got a lot worse.” A woman, who did not want to be identified, said: “It was a big fire – the whole roof has come off. It’s absolutely devastating.”

A fire spokesman said a specialist fire team was sent in to shore up the house.

He added: “The fire was put out by 12.30pm.

“The roof of the house has suffered partial collapse. A family has been left homeless as a result of this.”

Mandie Skeat, Basildon Council’s head of housing and community services, said: “We will be offering temporary accommodation to the tenant and her two sons and will continue to offer ongoing support.”